The Thrice Cream Thief
by futureauthor13
Summary: Someone stole thrice cream, and Chowder's being blamed and arrested for it! But when Panini breaks Chowder out of jail, they both have to try and solve the mystery, and prove Chowder's innocence before it's too late!
1. Chapter 1

**I've got to stop starting new stories before I finish old ones, but I just can't help it! This idea popped into my head yesterday, and I want to write it. This is my first mystery fanfic, so please no flaming (however I will take constructive criticism), and don't forget to review! **

"Panini, time to get up!"

Panini groaned as she covered her head with a pillow. "Just five more minutes," she mumbled.

"We've got work to do, Panini. Now come on."

Panini sighed and then threw the pillow off her. Even though she was happy and cheerful most of the time, she wasn't really a morning person, and she didn't like to get up early. But Ms. Endive always got her up at six o'clock, everyday except Sevendays when she was allowed to sleep in until seven.

Panini got up and walked over to her dresser. She smiled at the picture on it. It was a picture of Chowder. Seeing Chowder, even just a picture of him, always put her in a good mood. She then picked out her clothes, got dressed, combed her fur, brushed her teeth, and then finally went down stairs.

She fixed herself her usual bowl of cereal. As she ate, Ms. Endive came into the kitchen with the daily newspaper.

"Good morning, Ms. Endive," she said to her as she sat down.

"Good morning," replied Endive, hardly paying attention to Panini, as she opened up the newspaper to the Cooking section.

As she ate her cereal, Panini just glanced up at the newspaper's front page, and couldn't believe what she saw!

The headline said in big, bold letters "**Local Apprentice Arrested for Thrice Cream Theft**" and underneath is was a picture of...

"Chowder!" shouted Panini, "Ms. Endive, let me see the newspaper!"

"Panini," said Ms. Endive in a stern voice, "You can have the newspaper when I'm done with it, now eat your cereal."

So Panini waited, barely touching her now soggy cereal, for Endive to finish.

There's no way that can be Chowder, Panini thought, maybe it's just someone who looks like Chowder. There are a few people in Marzipan who do look very similar to Chowder. But it was no use convincing herself, that was Chowder, she would recognize him anywhere.

After what seemed like hours later, Endive handed her the newspaper. "Here you..."

"Thank you!" Panini said quickly as she flipped the newspaper to the front page, and quickly started to read.....

********

BANG! BANG! BANG!

It was about three in the morning, everyone was still asleep. But at Mung Daal's Catering Company, someone kept banging on the door.

"Huh? What is that?" asked Truffles, "I think there's someone at the door. Mung, go check it out."

Mung slowly got out of bed and went down the stairs, while the knocking continued. "I'm coming, I'm coming!"

Mung opened the door and was greeted by Sargent Hoagie of the Marzipan Police Force. "Are you Mung Daal?"

"Yes, but..."

"And do you have an apprentice named Chowder?"

"Well yes, but..."

"We received a tip that your apprentice is a food thief!"

"What?! That's crazy, Chowder's not a thief!" shouted Mung, "He may love food, but he wouldn't steal!"

"What's going on?" asked Truffles who was flying down the stairs.

"The police say that Chowder stole food!" said Mung who was just about as confused as Truffles was.

"This morning at 1 AM, the local Thrice Cream vendor was robbed. Every cup, cone, bar, and thrice cream sandwich was stolen. Then, about five minutes ago, we received a phone call from an anonymous witness saying that it was your apprentice was the one who robbed the vendor," said Sargent Hoagie.

"Well that 'witness' must have been lying," said Mung.

"Well even if he was, we still need to make sure. Where is your apprentice now?"

"Where do you think?" said Truffles, "He's up in his bedroom asleep."

"Please take us to his room," said Sargent Hoagie. And so Mung and Truffles went upstairs to Chowder's room with the police following them. When they got there, Mung knocked on Chowder's door, but no answer, so he opened the door.

Both Mung and Truffles gasped at what they saw. All around Chowder's room was empty boxes and cartons of thrice cream. Chowder was in his bed, sleeping with thrice cream all over his face.

"Chowder!" Mung said surprised.

"Huh?" Chowder slowly opened his eyes and looked around at the people in his room, "Hey, what's going on?"

"Apprentice Chowder," said Sargent Hoagie as he walked towards Chowder with handcuffs, "You under arrest for the crime of Food Theft, specifically thrice cream.

"What?!" shouted Chowder, alarmed, "But I didn't steal thrice cream!"

"Then why do you have thrice cream all over your face?" asked Officer Monte Cristo.

"Because before I fell asleep," said Chowder, "I went down stairs and had a little bit of thrice cream."

"But what about all these thrice cream containers?" asked Officer Cheesesteak, "I don't think you have this much thrice cream in your freezer."

"We don't, but I don't know how all of these got here! Honest!" shouted Chowder.

"That's what they all say," said Officer Monte Cristo, as Sargent Hoagie put the handcuffs on Chowder, "You have the right to remain silent."

"Chowder, I can't believe you would steal thrice cream!" said Mung.

"But I didn't! You've got to believe me!"

But Mung wasn't so sure. Chowder had been known to do almost anything for thrice cream, he loved the stuff. And with the empty containers, and the thrice cream on Chowder's face, he just wasn't sure. He wanted to believe Chowder, but....

"Mung! Truffles! I didn't do it!" The police started to drag Chowder away, "I'm innocent."

******

Panini couldn't believe it, her num nums, a thief. Part of her didn't want to believe it.

But part of her did.

**Poor Chowder! So yeah, that's the beginning of the story, kind of a prologue. Like I said, please review, and I'll see you in the next chappie!**


	2. Chapter 2

Chowder was sitting in a dark, gray jail cell. He was sniffling a little bit because he had been crying. Just a few hours ago, he had been arrested for something he knew he didn't do.

"I'm not a thief," Chowder told himself, "Am I?" He thought. Maybe he had stolen the thrice cream because he was sleep eating. But that couldn't have happened. He had eaten one thrice cream cone at almost ten at night, way before midnight. He remembered Mung had said, as long as he ate before midnight, he would be fine.

So he couldn't have stolen the thrice cream, but no one believed him, not even Mung. Chowder knew that news in Marzipan spread fast. By now, everyone in Marzipan probably thought he was a thief. And that made Chowder feel terrible.

"I didn't do it."

"You have a visitor," said an officer. Chowder percked up a little bit. He thought that maybe it was maybe Mung or Truffles, or even Shnitzel, coming to say that they believed him and were going to get him out of jail.

Chowder heard the footsteps come closer to his cell. When the person finally got there, he was surprised at who it was.

"Panini?" Panini looked a little different when Chowder saw her. Usually she loved seeing Chowder, and almost every time Chowder saw her, she would be smiling. But she wasn't smiling, she just looked kind of sad. "What are you doing here?" he asked curiously.

Panini looked at Chowder for a moment before she started to speak. "Chowder, I have to know, did you steal all that thrice cream?"

"No, I didn't! I swear!" Chowder said without hesitation, but Panini still wasn't quite sure. "Panini, you have to believe me! Nobody else does, not even Mung or Truffles! I don't want people to think that I'm a thief, and I need at least one person to believe me! Please, I'm innocent! I didn't do it!"

Panini looked at Chowder. He looked so sad, so hurt. Even though all the evidence pointed to him, her heart told her to believe what she should have been believing from the start.

"Okay Chowder, I believe you," said Panini, smiling at Chowder.

"Really?" asked a hopeful Chowder. Panini nodded and Chowder smiled.

"So if you didn't steal all the thrice cream, who did?" asked Panini.

"I don't know, but I wish I did," said Chowder, "Hey maybe you can find out who did it!"

"Me?" asked Panini.

"Yeah, you can be like my detective, and then you can find the thief, and no one will think I'm a thief!"

"I don't know, Chowder." said Panini, doubtful. Sure, she had read a few mysteries, and watched a few detective and crime shows, but she didn't think she could ever do something like that.

"Please Panini," pleaded Chowder, "You're the only one who'll help me."

"Well, I can try," said Panini, not wanting to let her num nums down.

"And I can try and help you too."

"How can you help, you're in jail."

"You can break me out!"

"What?!"

"I can hide during the day, and help you find clues at night." Panini thought for a moment. She would need a little help to solve this mystery, and she could figure out a plan to break Chowder out, the MCPD wasn't exactly security central. Plus, she would get to have quality time with Chowder.

"Okay," said Panini, "I'll meet you here tonight, and you can hide at my house. Then we can start trying to solve this mystery."

"Thanks Panini," said Chowder smiling.

"No problem, Num Nums," replied Panini, smiling. She started to walk away, but then Chowder said, "Panini!" Panini looked. "I'm not your boyfriend."

Panini smiled. "I love you too," she said, and walked away before Chowder could object.

******

It was about ten o'clock at night. Everyone was asleep in Marzipan. Well, almost everyone.

Panini was on top of the roof of the MCPD. Panini was wearing a black jumpsuit to blend in, and had a bag of things she thought she might need. She carefully unlocked a window, opened it and jumped inside as quietly as possible.

Panini looked around. "Hmm, no guards." She was about to start walking towards Chowder's cell when she remembered something she saw in an old spy movie.

She took some hair spray, and sprayed it on the floor. Almost instantly, lasers appeared.

"Ugh, lasers. Why is it always lasers, that's such a cliche," said Panini as she started to step over the lasers.

When she made it to Chowder's cell, he was laying on his bed asleep. "Chowder! Pst, Chowder!" Panini whispered.

Chowder woke up and looked up. "Panini?" he said.

"Yep, time for a breakout," said Panini.

"But what about the keys?"

"I've got it covered," said Panini as she popped out one of her claws. She used it to unlock the cell door, and within a few minutes, Chowder was out. "Okay, we just need to get out of here."

"We can use the back exit," said Chowder as he walked towards it.

"Chowder, No!" But it was to late. As soon as he turned the nob, an alarm went off. "Quick, run!"

They both quickly ran outside and dove into some bushes while a bunch of cops began to show up.

"The Thrice Cream Thief is gone!" shouted Officer Monte Cristo.

"Don't worry, we'll find him," said Officer Hoagie. He stuck his nose up in the air and began to sniff.

"Oh no, he'll smell us for sure!" whispered Chowder.

"Don't worry," said Panini, "Put this on." She handed Chowder a bottle of perfume that was called "Essence of Bush". It was one of the bad perfumes Ms. Endive always seemed to buy even though she never wore them.

Chowder and Panini sat motionless in the bush for about 20 minutes. Officer Hoagie searched/smelled for them, but even his super sensitive dog nose couldn't smell them under all the bush-smelling perfume they were wearing.

"Well, he's not here, let's search the town." Finally the cops had left. Chowder and Panini slowly walked out of the bushes.

"Okay, let's head over to my house," said Panini.

******

It was 10:30 by the time Chowder and Panini had arrived at Panini's house. Ms. Endive was in bed asleep, so Panini had plenty of time to hide Chowder.

"That was close," said Chowder, "So what do we do now?"

"Well...." Suddenly, there was a knock at the door. "Oh no! Quick, Chowder, hide in the oven!"

"The oven? Why..."

"Because no one ever searches for someone in the oven. Now hurry, and make sure it's turned off!" Chowder ran off into the kitchen, and the person knocked again.

"Coming!" Panini then got out her eye drops, and squirted a few drops into her eyes to make it look like she was crying. She then finally opened the door.

As expected, the police were there. "Excuse me, are you Apprentice Panini?"

"Uh huh," said Panini in a voice that made her sound like she had been crying for an hour.

"Are you okay?" asked Officer Hoagie.

"Oh yes, I'm fine," said Panini, "It's just that I've been so upset since I found out my num nums, Chowder, stole food! I couldn't believe it! He was so quiet and sweet."

"Yeah, well it's always the quiet and sweet ones that are the secret thieves," said Hoagie, "Anyway, we received a tip that said you broke the Thrice Cream Thief out of jail and are hiding him in your house. Do you mind if we search?"

"Oh no, I don't mind. But please, don't talk about Chowder, it's too soon," said Panini.

The police only searched for a few minutes, because just like she had wanted, the police weren't that suspicious of her.

"Well, call us if you see him," said Officer Hoagie.

"I will officer," said Panini, "I want that thief in jail for breaking my heart!" As soon as the police left, Panini ran into the kitchen and opened the oven.

Chowder was laying in there. Panini helped him out of the oven. "You're a pretty good actress," said Chowder, "I heard the whole thing."

"Thanks," said Panini, "Now come on, I'll show you to your hiding place. Unless you want to hide in the oven."

"Well...." Panini laughed. She took Chowder's hand and dragged him upstairs.

"Okay, here it is," said Panini.

She had opened her closet door. Behind all her clothes and toys, you could see a shiny doorknob sticking out of the wall. "It's my secret room. I used to hide in here all the time when I was little for fun, so I know you'll have enough air. Ms. Endive doesn't even know about it, and I only have the key to it, it's perfect. I'll try to get you some breakfast before I start looking for clues."

"Okay," said Chowder. Panini unlocked the door, and opened it. The secret room was about as big as a medium sized box, and it was big enough for Chowder to sit and lay down comfortably in it. She handed Chowder a flashlight in case he needed it, and he crawled inside.

"Goodnight Chowder," said Panini.

"Goodnight Panini," said Chowder. Panini smiled, and closed/locked the secret door. She then got into her pajamas and climbed into bed. She couldn't stop thinking about the questions she had, like who kept tipping off the police? Who would want to frame Chowder. But the biggest question of all was,

Would she be able to solve this mystery?

**Please review**


	3. Chapter 3

**At last, the long awaited newest chapter! Sorry about the long wait, anyway, here we go!**

"Panini, time to wake up."

Panini slowly opened her eyes, she had barely gotten any sleep last night. She yawned as she got up. Time to get to work, she told herself. "Just give me a sec Ma'am, I need to find my brush." Quickly and quietly, she opened the hidden door. "Chowder, are you alright?"

Chowder turned. "Aw, just five more minutes, Mung," he said half asleep. Panini smiled. He's so cute, she thought as she closed and relocked the door.

After breakfast, Panini wrote Chowder a note, slid it under the door, and then got to work. She decided the first thing to do was to go to the scene of the crime.

"Mr. Custard?" said Panini as she knocked on the door. "Hold on, I'm a coming," said a voice with an Italian accent. The thrice cream vendor opened the door. "Well, what can I do for you little girl?"

"Hi Mr. Custard," said Panini politely, "I was wondering if you could tell me a bit about what happened the night your thrice cream was stolen. I'm writing an article for the Young Apprentice Newspaper."

"Sure thing, come right in," said Mr. Custard. When he and Panini walked inside the house, she saw the thrice cream man and a few of his children. "The Thrice Cream family's staying with you?"

"Yes, with the Thrice Cream thief's escape, they were worried. They are made of thrice cream after all, so I'm letting them stay here until he's caught."

"That's nice of you," said Panini as she got out her notebook and mechanical pencil, "So, why don't you start at the beginning."

"Okay," said Mr. Custard, "It had been a good day for me. My newest flavor was a big hit. I had made a good bundle. I went to bed happy. But that night, around midnight I think, some noise woke me up...

_Mr. Custard sat up in his bed. What is going on out there, he thought. It sounded like thrice cream containers being tossed around. He then heard a garbage can fall over._

_He grabbed his flashlight and quickly ran to the front door. He opened the door and shined the flashlight at the thrice cream cart. There was a figure holding a giant bag. He looked like he was wearing a hat that looked similar to Chowder's. But most of the person was behind the cart, so it was hard to see who it was. "What are you doing with my thrice cream?"_

_The figure quickly ran off, and Mr. Custard ran over to his cart. All the Thrice cream was gone! "Stop! Thief!" But the thief was already gone. Mr. Custard ran into his house and grabbed the phone. "Hello? Police? I've been robbed!"_

"The police came by shortly after. They asked me a few questions and then got a phone call. After the call ended, Chief Hoagie told me not to worry and that they may have caught the thief."

"So, you say that the thief was wearing a hat similar to Chowder's?" Mr. Custard nodded. "Could you tell what color it was?"

"No, even with the flashlight it was hard to tell what color it was. All I know was that it was a dark color."

"Thank you for your time, Mr. Custard," said Panini, "I'll let myself out." As soon as she went outside, she sighed. All signs still pointed to Chowder. The only clues she could gather was that the thief was wearing a dark colored hat similar to Chowder's. But then she remembered, the phone call. A phone call meant another witness.

******

"Chief?" Chief Hoagie looked up from his desk of busy paperwork. "What is it?" he asked.

"There's someone here who would like to speak with you, Sir," said Officer Cheesestake. Panini walked into the room. "Hello Sir," she said.

"Oh, hello there," said Chief Hoagie, "How are you?"

"I'm feeling much better," said Panini, "But I was wondering, how did you figure out that Chowder was the Thrice Cream Thief?"

"Well, for one thing, the victim said he saw im, or at least someone that looks like him, at the scene of the crime. We also received an annonymous tip saying it was him."

"What did the person who called sound like?"

"Sorry, little lady, that's classified."

"Aw come on Chief," said Officer Cheesestake, "There are tons of people with deep voices in the city, I'm sure it wouldn't hurt anyone to tell her that."

"You know, things are called 'classified' for a reason, Officer," said Chief Hoagie, now glaring at the officer.

"Thank you, that's all I needed to know," said Panini, "Have a nice day, Officers." And with that, she quickly left the room.

She now had another witness to question. Too bad there were hundreds of people in the city who had deep voices, and anyone could disguise their voice. Panini looked at her watch. 12:00. I better get back to Chowder, she thought, knowing he would probably be hungry by the time she got home.

"Hey Big Ears." Panini turned and saw Gorgonzola. "How's your jailbird boyfriend?"

"He's not going to be called a jailbird forever," said Panini, "I know he's innocent."

"Yeah right," said Gorgonzola, "We're taking about Chowder, the kid who could eat a whole truck load of ice cream and still have room for more!"

"Look, I'm not in the mood right now," said Panini as she started to walk away.

"Whatever," said Gorgonzola walking the other way. Panini rolled her eyes. Rigt now she had more important things to do then to deal with that mouse.

*******

Endive was stiring a bowl of Smashed Growtatoes when she heard the buzzer from the dryer go off. "Panini, get the laundry." No answer. "Panini?" Still no answer. "Fine, I'll get it myself."

It was all Panini's clothes, so Endive just put it in a basket and took it up to Panini's room. "Hmm," she said as she put the basket on her apprentice's bed, "I never noticed that door before." She walked over to the door and pulled on it. Locked. Endive then reached into her pocket and pulled out a key with a skull on it. A Skeleton key. She put the key in the door, turned it, opened the door and…

**Mini cliffhanger!**


	4. Chapter 4

"So that's where the spare flashlight was!" Endive grabbed the flashlight that was in the small hidden room. "I wonder how it got here…"

*****

"So how's your lunch, Chowina?" Panini said smiling. Chowder was in disguise, he was wearing an old blue dress, brown dress shoes, a blonde wig, and glasses. They were at a café eating lunch.

"I can't believe you talked me into this," said Chowder, "But the dress does bring out my eyes. So, have you found out who the Thrice Cream Thief is?"

"Not yet, but I have a few leads," said Panini, pulling out her notebook. "I know the thief was wearing a hat that looks similar to yours, but may not be the same color. Do you know anyone with a deep voice who may want you in jail or may be mad at you?"

"Well," said Chowder thinking, "Gumbo did want me gone for a while, but he doesn't have a deep voice, and he doesn't want revenge anymore. Then there's Sour Ron, the Puckerberry Ruler, he has a deep voice. But he didn't want to get rid of me or put me in jail, he just wanted to take over my mouth. But he's nice now, so it can't be him. Shnitzel has a deep voice, but I don't think he would want me in jail."

"Hmm, I guess we don't have too many suspects then," said Panini, "Which makes this mystery all the more harder."

"What other clues are there?" asked Chowder.

"Not many," said Panini, feeling discouraged, "Wait! If the thief was stealing Thrice cream, then his fingerprints would've been all over the Thrice Cream cart and the containers in your room!"

"So all we have to do is check the fingerprints and prove it's not me!" said Chowder happily.

"I don't think it'll be that simple, Chowde… I mean, Chowina. We have to get the evidence from the police first. Although, you would think they would've checked for fingerprints by now."

"Well, you could go ask Sergeant Hoagie right now," said Chowder, pointing over to a table across the room. Panini looked and saw Police Chief Hoagie talking to a waitress.

"Maybe I will," said Panini, getting up from the table.

"And one cup of Clawfee, no cream, extra sugar," said Chief Hoagie. When the waitress walked away, Panini walked over.

"Hi Chief Hoagie," said Panini, "I was wondering, have you ever thought about checking the Thrice Cream cart or containers for fingerprints?"

"Well, thanks for your help little lady, but we already tried that."

"You did?"

"Yep, and we got nothing. That kid must've been wearing gloves or something. If it wasn't for those witnesses, the trail would've been cold."

"Okay, thanks for your time," said Panini as she walked away. She sat back down at her table. "Well so much for that, it turns out they already checked for fingerprints, and the thief was wearing gloves!"

"Aw man!" said Chowder.

"I'm not sure how we can solve this mystery, Chowder," said Panini, "There are hardly any clues or witnesses, and the ones we have all point to you as the thief. I don't think we can solve this mystery."

"You mean you're just gonna give up?!" asked Chowder. Panini looked at her friend. She didn't like him being so worried and upset.

"No," she said with a smile, "I promise I won't give up."

"Thanks Panini," said Chowder. He paused for a minute. "But I'm still not your boyfriend," he added.

"Don't you mean girlfriend?" said Panini. They both laughed a little. Panini then took a sip of her juice. "Hmm, I have an idea, but it's a little risky."

"What?" asked Chowder.

"Well, maybe we could go back to your house. That's where all the thrice cream containers were found. Maybe the police missed something, like a strand of hair, or something. I mean, it's worth a try."

"We can go tonight, Mung and Truffles will probably be asleep," said Chowder, "I really hope we find some clues."

"Me too Chowina," said Panini, "Me too."

******

It was eleven o'clock at night. Chowder, now back in his regular clothes but wearing a black jacket, and Panini wearing her black jumpsuit, were outside Mung Daal's Catering Company.

"Ready?" asked Panini.

"Yeah," said Chowder, "There should be a ladder somewhere…" They both then saw were the ladder was, was as in it was gone. "Rats, the police must've took it down."

"Is there another way to get in?" asked Panini.

"Wait, I just remembered!" Chowder took off his hat, reached inside it, and pulled out a key. They both walked to the front door and slowly opened it.

"Okay, remember, we have to be quiet," said Panini.

"Don't worry," said Chowder, "Mung and Truffles are really heavy sleepers, they won't wake up for anything."

"Okay, let's just go to your room," said Panini. Suddenly, they both felt hands grab their shoulders. They both screamed. The lights then turned on. The two catbearits then saw that Shnitzel was the one that had grabbed them. They also saw Mung and Truffles in the corner.

"You guys are supposed to be asleep!" said Chowder.

"When we heard you had escaped from jail, we knew you would probably come here to hide out," said Truffles, "So we had Shnitzel stand guard so you could be caught. Mung, call the cops."

"Right," said Mung. He then started to walk over to the phone.

"Wait! Mr. Daal, please," said Panini, "Chowder's innocent. We're only here to search for evidence to prove it. Please believe it!" But Mung started to dial the number.

"Mung wait!" Mung looked up. "Mung, you gotta believe me! I didn't steal the thrice cream, and I was never planning to. You gotta believe me, cause I don't want to go to jail, and worst of all, I don't want you to be ashamed of me."

Mung looked at his apprentice for a moment, and then hung up the phone. Chowder smiled. "Shnitzel, let them go."

"Radda?"

"I believe him, so let them go," said Mung. Shnitzel reluctantly obeyed and let the two catbearits go. "Thanks Mung," said Chowder. He knew that Shnitzel and Truffles still thought he was the thief, but at least he had one more person on his side, and hopefully soon, everyone will be on his side.

They all then went up to Chowder's room. Mung, Shnitzel and Truffles all stood in the doorway, while Chowder and Panini searched for clues.

"Um, I'm not sure if this is a clue, but I found some brown string on the floor," said Chowder holding up a brown piece of string. Panini took it and looked at it a little more closely. It looked like it was from clothing, and it looked pretty worn. Panini put it in a bag and put it in her backpack.

She then lifted up the blanket on Chowder's bed so she could look under it. She saw something shiny. She reached and grabbed it. It was a spoon. It was sticky because there was still some Thrice Cream on it, but it had an "S" on the handle.

"An 'S'? I wonder what that stands for.." said Panini. Everyone then looked at Shnitzel.

"Radda radda radda! Radda radda radda radda."

"That's true," said Truffles, "You wouldn't have something as fancy as personalized silverware."

"It must stand for something else," said Panini. Suddenly, they all heard sirens. They sounded close.

"Okay Thief, come out with your hands up!"


	5. Chapter 5

"What's going on?" asked Chowder. He was about to look out his balcony to check, but Panini grabbed his collar and stopped him. "No Chowder, they can't see you!"

"Follow me," said Mung, "Truffles and Shnitzel, keep the cops busy."

"Right." "Radda." Shnitzel and Truffles quickly went downstairs, while Mung led the two catbearits down the hallway to the door at the end. When he opened it, there was a spiral staircase.

"A secret staircase?" said Panini. "I always wondered what was behind that door," said Chowder.

"Yep, it leads to a back exit, and if Truffles and Shnitzel distract the cops, you should be able to make a run for it," said Mung.

"Thanks Mung," said Chowder smiling at his master. Mung smiled back. "Now go! Hurry!" The two friends quickly ran down the stairs and to the door. Panini slowly opened it and made sure no one was near. "All clear," she whispered. They quickly ran outside and into the night.

******

"Extra extra! The Thrice Cream Thief strikes again! Only twenty five sments!"

"Here you go," said Panini handing the newspaper man a quarter. She picked up the newspaper and took it over to Chowder, who was in his Chowina disguise. "What does it say?" asked Chowder.

"Last night," said Panini, reading the front page article, "Chowder, also known has the Thrice Cream Thief, stuck again. This time, the victim was a Ken and Mary's Thrice Cream Store. The thief was able to get away with five gallons of thrice cream, including such flavors as Swiss Cheese, Pineapple Hurricane, Tropical Strawberry, and Choco Chocolate."

"Blech!" interrupted Chowder, "Swiss Cheese flavor."

"Wait, there's a food you don't like?" said Panini astonished.

"Yeah, I can eat almost anything, but if there are two things I can't eat, it's Meveled Eggs and Swiss Cheese flavored Thrice Cream."

"Strange, before now I've never heard of it."

"It's a new flavor, and I was the first to try it at Mr. Custard's stand a couple days ago, he was giving away free samples."

"So if you hated the flavor, you wouldn't have stolen it, so that's one more clue that says it's not you," said Panini.

"Read the rest," said Chowder.

"However, the police caught a glimpse of the thief thanks to a security camera. They couldn't see his face, but they could tell it was someone short. The camera was black and white, so they couldn't tell what color he was wearing, but he was wearing a heavy coat, and a hat." Underneath the paragraph was a picture of the hat, it looked exactly like Chowder's. "When the police arrived at the scene, the thief was already gone. After reviewing the security tape, the police went over to Mung Daal's Catering Company, where the thief lived. The other residents there insisted he wasn't there, and when the house was searched, he wasn't there. So now the search is on for the thief. If you have any information, call 555-67T-RUTH."

"So the police still think it's me," said Chowder.

" Right, but don't worry," said Panini comforting her friend, "We have plenty of clues ourselves." Panini led her 'boyfriend' (at least in her mind) to a bench to sit down and go over the clues. "Okay, so far, we have:

Someone who is a male, has a heavy coat and a Chowder hat (possibly brown), someone short, someone who possibly has a name that starts with 'S', maybe someone with a deep voice, and someone who likes the flavors Swiss Cheese, Pineapple Hurricane, Tropical Strawberry, and Choco Chocolate."

"Is that enough clues to find the thief?" asked Chowder hopefully.

"I don't think so," said Panini, "There could be many people in the city that fit this profile, and who knows, they could've been in disguise when they stole the thrice cream." Chowder frowned.

"I just wish we could catch this guy," said Chowder, "I'm tired of people thinking I'm a criminal."

"I know," said Panini. She then looked up and saw the person she definitely didn't want to see right now. "Quick, act like a girl," she whispered.

"Hey Big Ears," said Gorgonzola in his normal cynical way. He then noticed Chowder. "Who's that?"

"Oh, this is Chowina," said Panini, "We're like best friends, she just moved here from Tofu Town, right Chownini?"

"Oh, yeah!" said Chowder in a girl voice, "Um, Bonjour!" Panini mentally smacked her forehead.

"Whatever," said Gorgonzola, not interested in the least. He then said with a smart-aleck smirk, "Say hi to your jailbird boyfriend for me."

"I'm…so glad we met! Bye!" said Chowder, stopping himself from shouting "I'm not her boyfriend". Gorgonzola looked at Chowder strangely, but then forgot about it and continued to walk away.

"Nice save," said Panini.

"Thanks," said Chowder, "So, what are we going to do now?"

"I don't know," said Panini, sitting back on the bench, looking up at the clouds and trying to think of a way to catch the thief. Then, it hit her.

"Wait, the thief must like thrice cream. If he didn't, he would only steal a gallon of thrice cream, that would be enough to get you in trouble. Also, you said that when you woke up, your room was filled with empty thrice cream containers, someone had to eat all that thrice cream. So all we need to do is set up a stakeout at a place that has thrice cream, and wait for the thief to come."

"Awesome!" said Chowder, "But wait, there aren't any other thrice cream places in town."

"Oh yes there is!" said Panini, "About a mile from town is a Thrice Cream port. Trucks from all over the country drive to the port, drop off the thrice cream, and then it gets picked up by people and places like Mr. Custard and Ken and Mary's Thrice Cream store. If the thief wanted to get thrice cream at a place he hadn't robbed before, that would be his next target."

"We can go there tonight," said Chowder, starting to get excited.

"Hopefully he'll come," said Panini, "Come on, let's go get ready for tonight." The two got off the bench and started to head towards Ms. Endive's Catering Company. "By the way Chowina, Bonjour is how you say hi in French, not Chinese or Japanese, which is what most of the people who live in Tofu Town are."

"Well, I didn't know how to say Hi in Chinese or Japanese!" Panini just simply smiled and rolled her eyes at her num nums. Even though she wanted to solve this mystery, she did enjoy spending time with Chowder.

******

The night air was cool. Panini and Chowder were hiding in the bushes outside the thrice cream port. Panini was wide awake, thanks the cool breeze and the adrenaline of being out at night and possibly solving this mystery. Chowder on the other hand couldn't help but be tired, especially since the last two nights he had either been up late sneaking out of or in somewhere, or sleeping in a tiny secret room.

"What time is it?" asked Chowder with a yawn.

"Almost midnight," said Panini, looking at her cell phone, "You can rest your eyes for a little bit, Chowder."

"Okay, thanks," said Chowder. He slowly laid down and closed his eyes. Panini turned her attention back to the entrance of the thrice cream port. Soon, staying up late was starting to catch up to her. She gave a quiet yawn. Maybe just for a little while, she told herself. Slowly, she closed her eyes. A few moments later, she opened them. Closed them. Opened them. Closed….wait, was someone out there.

Her eyes opened and sure enough, there was a figure outside the doors. Panini gently started shaking Chowder.

"Huh?"

"Shhh!". She pulled Chowder up, and pointed at the figure. Chowder was now quiet, but also wide awake. The figure was short and was wearing a hat similar to Chowder's, just like the description. The coat was brown, which explained the brown string they had found, but the hat, as far as they could tell, was violet. It wasn't as purple as Chowder's hat, but it wasn't pink, it was somewhere in the middle.

The figure reached into his pocket and got out a paperclip that was bent straight to unlock the doors. Like Sergeant Hoagie said, he was wearing gloves. Wait, those weren't gloves, those were mittens. Why would a thief wear mittens instead of gloves?

The thief got the door opened, went in, and closed it almost all the way. "Okay, let's go," said Panini after a couple minutes of waiting.

"Shouldn't we call the police?" asked Chowder. He had seen a couple mystery/crime shows before, and you always call for back up.

"Don't worry, I'm pretty sure I know who the thief is," said Panini, "And I think I can handle him." The two catbearits then slowly went into the building.

They could see the thief, and quietly followed. After a few minutes of walking, the figure stopped at a freezer labeled "New Flavors." It had a lock on it, so the thief got out his paperclip and started to pick the lock.

Just then, Chowder accidentally tripped. He had caught himself before he fell, but the thief had heard his foot slip. He started to run away, and now they were in pursuit mode.

"Stop!" shouted Chowder, as he and Panini ran after the thief. The thief tried to lose them by going between and around crates and freezers, but they were still able to keep track of him. Eventually, the thief accidentally ran into a dead end.

"Stop, you don't need to run," said Panini, "We already know who you are."

"We do?" asked Chowder. "You do?" asked the thief, whose voice sounded deep and muffled.

"Yes," said Panini, "We do, Cheviche."

**ZOMG surprise twist! Sorry I keep ending these chapters on cliffhangers, but hey, I have to keep you guys interested. Also, in case you didn't get the reference, "Ken and Mary's" is supposed to be like "Ben and Jerry's". **


	6. Chapter 6

**Last Chapter!**

The figure stood still, staring at the two catbearits, stunned you could say by what Panini had just said. Finally, the figure sighed. He removed his hat and uncovered his face (it was covered by the coat). Panini was right, it was Cheviche.

"Cheviche! It is you!" said Chowder in disbelief, while Panini didn't seem to surprised. "How did you figure out it was me?" asked Cheviche.

"Yeah, how did you figure out it was Cheviche?" asked Chowder.

"Elementary, my dear Num Nums," said Panini smiling, "When I figured out that the thief was someone short, I figured it was someone who was a kid, since there are no adults that short. When I saw that the thief was wearing a hat just like yours, I figured it was an apprentice, since it is very custom for if the apprentice is a boy, they get an apprentice hat, it just depends on whether or not they want to wear it. The personalized spoon is something fancy that Pate would collect, as part of a alphabetical spoon collection.

When I saw the hat with my own eyes, the color matched Cheviche's leotard perfectly. And my final clue came when I saw Cheviche pick the lock on the door. He was wearing mittens. I wondered why a thief would were mittens instead of gloves. Then it hit me, you can't wear gloves if you have hoofs."

Cheviche took off his mittens, revealing his hoofs. "I would've thought you would think the thief was Gorgonzola."

"You wanted me to think that," said Panini, "That's why you purposely left a brown string at the crime scene to make me think it was from Gorgonzola's shirt, and why you stole Swiss Cheese flavored Thrice Cream, a thrice cream flavor that would definitely be a favorite of a mouse. And at first, I did suspect Gorgonzola. But I figured he wasn't smart enough to pull off something like this. That, and the thief was quick when he made his escape, and who's quicker than a dancer?"

Cheviche looked at her, his face told her that she was right. "But there's still one thing I can't figure out," said Panini, "Why did you do it?"

"I did it for you," said Cheviche, "I just thought, maybe if you thought Chowder was a thief, you might consider loving me like you do with Chowder, since he would be in jail. So, I thought of a plan and that night, I headed towards Mr. Custard's Thrice Cream Stand….

_Cheviche quickly ran towards the Thrice Cream Cart. He quickly ducked behind it and stayed low for a minute. After making sure no one was awake to see him, he got out an old bag and started putting Thrice Cream containers in it (after picking the lock). After he had got about 5 or 6 gallons, he closed the lid on the cart, and started to make his escape._

_But he had forgotten about the trashcans that were there. BAM! "Oops" said Cheviche. He then heard the door open. "Who's there?" said a voice. It was Mr. Custard, he was shining a flashlight at the cart, but Cheviche was behind the cart._

_Quickly, he ran as fast as he could from the cart and it's owner, and never looked back. When he got to Pate's house, he took a random spoon in the drawer (he didn't notice it was one of the alphabetical spoons from his Master's collection), and scooped all the thrice cream into the dumpster outside. He then went to Chowder's house and went inside his room (thanks to a ladder outside). Chowder already had thrice cream on his face from an earlier snack, so all Cheviche did was leave the empty containers around his room, and then left without a trace._

When I got home, I called the police and told them that it was Chowder," said Cheviche shamefully, "When I heard you were trying to solve the mystery, Panini, I tried to make it so that it looked like Gorgonzola did it. But by the time I stole from the Ken and Mary's, I realized that framing Chowder wasn't the way to get you to like me. But I was scared, and I didn't want to get in trouble. I just kept trying to make it look like others did it. I'm sorry." Cheviche looked ashamed of himself, almost ready to cry.

"Cheviche," said Panini, "You didn't need to do this. You and I are best friends. I've told you before, you're like an older brother to me. I'm not sure if I'll ever think of us as a couple, but whether I do or don't, you and I will always be friends." Cheviche smiled at his friend. He then walked over to Chowder.

"I'm sorry for framing you," said Cheviche.

"It's okay," said Chowder, "As long as everyone knows I didn't do it, it's cool."

"And if Chowder forgives you, I forgive you," said Panini. Cheviche smiled at his friends. "Thanks," he said, "Um, are you going to call the police?"

"Actually," said Panini sheepishly, "I already have." She took her cell phone, on it said "Current call: MCPD." "I pocket dialed the police before we started to run after you just in case it was like a psychopath instead of you. They heard everything, including your confession, so maybe they'll let you off with an easier punishment."

The three kids walked outside. Outside was a Police car, Pate's car, and Mung's car so they knew who was there. Right away, Cheviche walked over to Sergeant Hoagie and Pate, while Chowder and Panini went over to Mung, Truffles, and Shnitzel.

"Glad to see you no longer on the run," said Mung smiling.

"Radda, uh, radda radda radda radda radda," said Shnitzel sheepishly.

"Yeah, sorry about not believing you before," said Truffles.

"It's okay," said Chowder, "I'm just glad people won't think I'm a thief anymore." As Chowder talked to his friends, Panini decided that they needed sometime to themselves, so she let them have their privacy.

Panini checked her watch. 1:07. The sun would be rising in a few hours. Panini was proud of herself for solving this near impossible mystery. Who knows, maybe after she becomes a chef, she could be a detective. But mostly, she was just glad this case was closed.

"Miss Panini, could I talk to you for a minute." Panini turned around. It was Sergeant Hoagie. "Sure," said Panini, "Um, how much trouble is Cheviche in?"

"Well, for food theft, the punishment is usually a thousand dollop fine and a week in jail, but maybe we could get it bumped down to just 1000 hours of community service." Panini was glad Cheviche wouldn't have it too rough. "Now, I want to ask you something." Panini was now curious. "I was wondering if you'd like to become an apprentice under the MCPD. We were impressed with your detective skills Little Lady, and you would be working aside our other junior detective, Porridge. What do you say?"

Panini thought for a minute. "Thank you for the offer, but I'm afraid I can't accept," said Panini, "I only did this to help my friend, and besides, I already have plans to become a chef."

"Well, I can respect your decision," said Sergeant Hoagie, "Well, again, great job on solving this case." Panini thanked him, and he walked away.

"Hey Panini," said Chowder. Panini turned and smiled. "I just wanna say thanks, for helping me."

"No problem," said Panini, "Now, about my fee…"

"Fee?"

"what, you don't think I solve mysteries for free, did you?"

"So what's the fee?" said Chowder, now worried with what Panini had in mind, "Holding hands on the way home?" "No." "A hug?" "No." "Kissing?" "No." "What?"

"How about, when Ken and Mary's open, we get some thrice cream sundaes together, I'll buy the first round." Chowder thought for a minute, this actually didn't sound that bad. "Okay," he said smiling. The two then walked towards Mung's car, ready to go home, and get a good night's sleep. On the way there, Panini couldn't help but hold Chowder's hand. And this time, Chowder didn't pull away.

**Okay, my first mystery story is over! In case you're interested, originally I planned for Gorgonzola to be the thief, but that was a tad too predictable, and predictable is just another word for normal. I'm not sure if I'm what you'd call normal (lol). **

**Also, surprise, I'm planning a sequel! Don't worry, Chowder's not getting framed again. It's going to be about Chowder and Panini trying to solve the mystery of a golden fork being stolen from the Marzipan Museum three years ago. I probably won't start it until Summer. Until then, thanks for all the reviews, you guys are the ones that kept this story going! See you later!**


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